


A Wolf and Her Sheep

by tennou



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Episode 23 Reimagined, F/F, Implied Relationships, Reimagined Scene, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 00:22:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1063457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tennou/pseuds/tennou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What went through Annie's mind when her secret was discovered? Did she have any regrets?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Wolf and Her Sheep

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't like how Annie's titan-shifting scene played out in the anime, so here it is in a different light (with more mikaani, of course).

Annie didn’t look away. She stood with her feet planted squarely in the ground and stared right back at them, forcing them to look at the girl who’d deceived them all.

She took a breath.

This was it. She'd laid all her cards on the table.

This was Annie Leonhardt. She’d betrayed all of them, and she knew it. She  _knew_  she was the bad guy, and she wasn’t sorry. Who else was going to be the antagonist, if not her?

A range of faces stared back at her; her friends.

Something dark and ugly settled in the pit of her stomach at the sight of their expressions.

Shock. Hurt. Confusion. Anger. Fear.

That last one got her the most. Fear. They were  _scared_ of her. She clenched her hands into fists. They should be. She was the villain.

She pulled her lips into a smile.

Annie wouldn’t show remorse. Why should she? She’d signed up for this. She knew what she’d been getting into.

 _And here I am_ , she thought.  _Everything has brought me to this point._

She inhaled, slowly, steadying herself.

“Did you really think I was  _good_?” she asked, her voice loud and clear, trembling only in the slightest.

The mere notion was absurd. She was obviously the villain. She’d never behaved in a way that would make them think any different. She’d never gotten close enough to make them think she was  _good_.

Annie’s eyes flicked to Armin. His eyes were wide but his jaw was set; unsurprised.

She raised her chin.

_The little shit._

He’d known all along. Maybe they all had. She took another shuddering breath. What to say? It wasn’t as though she would be apologizing.

Sudden movement to her left drew her gaze and she whirled around to find herself face to face with—

—Mikasa?

Annie’s eyes widened and she staggered back in surprise.

“Mikasa!” Armin shouted from somewhere in the crowd. Annie didn’t know where. “Don’t get too close!”

A grim smile took Annie’s face and she cocked her head. “Listen to your little cheerleader, Ackerman. Don’t you know how  _dangerous_  I am?”

She saw the muscles in Mikasa’s jaw clench.

“Annie.”

“What?” Annie spat. “What do you want?” she asked. “Do you want to kill me? Strike me down before I get out of hand?” Despair began to tinge her voice. No one would notice, except Mikasa. She always knew. She  _always fucking knew_.

Mikasa raised her hand and Annie flinched involuntarily, but Mikasa’s fingers simply ghosted over Annie’s cheek. Annie froze. What was Mikasa doing?

Whatever Armin shouted next was drowned out by Annie’s own thunderstorm of thoughts.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Don’t  _touch_  me.” She smacked Mikasa’s hand away. “Get away from me.”

“Annie…” Mikasa repeated. But she didn’t have anything to say. There was no mistaking who, or what, Annie was.

Annie felt an incredulous giggle building at the base of her throat but she suppressed the urge to laugh in Mikasa’s face. “If you don’t get away from me right now, Ackerman, I’ll eat you.”

Mikasa’s gaze hardened and Annie braced herself for the oncoming attack, slinking back into a fighting stance and keeping her hands loose at her sides.

But all Mikasa said was, “I’d like to see you try. You want to eat me, Annie? Don’t make me laugh. You’re scared shitless and cowering like newborn foal.” She stepped forward. “Quit acting out. Come on.”

Annie scowled. “What aren’t you understanding, Ackerman?” she said her last name like a curse. “I’m the villain.” A hollow smile touched her lips. “I killed your friends.”

“Annie, please,” Mikasa said, her voice quiet. Her expression softened. “You’re not the villain. Please, just stop this nonsense.”

She just laughed. “I don’t know what you’re expecting me to do.”

Mikasa’s eyes were wet and Annie felt something akin to guilt in her chest. The two ignored the shouts from the crowd, telling Mikasa to stand back, telling Annie to give herself up, trying to manipulate them both and failing.

“Do you feel betrayed, Mikasa?” Annie whispered. Her lip twitched. “Did you think we’d be together forever?” she asked with a sneer but something in her chest was starting to hurt. This wasn’t what she wanted. Not really. Not at all.

A tear rolled down Mikasa’s face, so swift and clean that Annie wouldn’t have seen it if she hadn’t been standing so close.

“You’re so full of shit.”

Annie didn’t even have time to react to Mikasa’s words or cry out as she felt Mikasa shove her down behind her own body.

“Wha—?”

“Stay back,” she murmured to Annie.

“Mikasa!” someone cried.

“Ackerman,” someone else was saying. “What are you doing?”

Annie’s eyes never left Mikasa; the grim expression on her face and the outline of her body shielding Annie like an avenging angel.

Mikasa’s hands went to her sides and she slid out her blades. She held them before her in a cross, eerily reminiscent of when she’d defended Eren. Annie almost laughed. Mikasa sure had a thing for protecting monsters.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice cold. “I can’t let you harm her.”

“Ackerman,” the voice said steadily. “Get out of the way.”

“Mikasa!” Armin screamed. “Don’t do this!” His voice was desperate. “They’re going to kill you too!”

Annie’s eyes widened and she felt herself begin to shake. He was right. They were going to kill her, and Annie too. Annie couldn’t die yet. Not with her mission incomplete.

_And Mikasa?_

 Her fingers curled around nothing, her nails scraping dirt.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Mikasa blinked in surprise and then turned back to glare at Annie. “No, Annie,  _no_ —”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, raising her hand and flicking her ring around. Mikasa dropped her blades and lunged for Annie’s hand, catching a hold of her fingers for just a second. Annie let their fingers intertwine for a single, blissful moment.

“I’m sorry.”

Annie released Mikasa’s hand and kicked her off. She didn’t look at Mikasa again when she drew her finger across the small hidden blade.

_Villains don’t get to fall in love with heroes. Wolves don’t get to fall in love with sheep._

_You deserve better than me._


End file.
